Chapter 13 - Resurrection of the Crew (CF)
“My brother hates me, Tubba...” Mud sighed, looking up to Tubba with despair in his eyes, his hands firmly placed on his jaw, his head slumping downward, helplessness flooding his limbs, after the others had left the dining room to accomplish various tasks. Tubba could not resist the urge to deadpan. “At least he doesn’t want you dead or indentured to him for life,” he said, causing a smile to break across the face of Mud. The two of them were getting more in common by the day. That was the last interaction Tubba had with Mud, and it was a week ago, when the path forward for the SS Mahruav had been beaten. They would dock at the Waffle Kingdom, unload the seven crewmates of the SS Mahruav who elected to no longer travel with them, and then set a course for the Clubba Kingdom - or as it was known now, the Clubba Ward of the Koopa Kingdom. They would have to stealthily land on Koopa soil, likely slightly south of the Clubba Kingdom in a place known as “Volcano Alley,” a sparsely-populated volcanic area, above which, corporeal clouds held the kingdoms of Sky Land and Nimbus Land, both of which were once Mushroom territory, but now Koopan. From Volcano Alley, they would head north to Gusty Gulch, through Forever Forest and then to Gusty Gulch, where they would have to stir up the sentiments of the Clubbas to marshal a rebellion. Tubba had begun to feel energy flowing back into his body the closer they drew to his homeland. There was something intangible affecting Tubba, once he had the way of knowing that something tangible was going to be accomplished in reference to reclaiming the Clubba Kingdom. And yet, even as the energy overcame him as he thought about reclaiming the Clubba Kingdom, he had begun to feel strangely lethargic. Tubba knew that Clubbas were heavy sleeping species, but he was spending more and more time sleeping over the week. Mud had refused to let the SS Mahruav leave without ensuring the crewmates he left behind were well cared for - Tubba suspected it was just to prove Stual wrong in his assertion that Mud did not care for them. This lethargy was nothing too important, but it made him feel drained often. Tubba was wanted in the Waffle Kingdom, as he had learned with his less than optimal experience with the SS Wiffler, consequently, he was one of the few members of the crew confined to the ship, having to discreetly lurk in the lower decks of the ship. They were not at any small dock - they were at one of the biggest in the Waffle Kingdom, with ships on either side of the SS Mahruav, many much newer than the two centuries old sailing ship, and much stronger and sleeker. The SS Mahruav, for the first time in their recorded history, had to divulge the contents of their hold to the Waffle Kingdom, otherwise they would not be permitted to dock. The reason for these measures was due to the rising tensions between the coalition of the Mushroom Kingdom, BeanBean Kingdom, Sarasaland and the Waffle Kingdom against the Koopa Kingdom and Zaz Kingdom. It was becoming a proxy war. The Mushrooms and Beans were still sore by the Koopa Kingdom fleecing them of Clubba Kingdom territory in 2016, and the Waffles had always aligned closer with the Mushrooms and Beans than with the Koopas. The Koopas had allied themselves with the Zaz Kingdom, for their ancestry hailed from that side of the world, and the two Kingdoms had the strongest militaries in the Mushroom World. Of course, the SS Mahruav actually did not transport anything in their hold, and that would not be enough to get into the Waffle Kingdom port. To skirt this regulation, the SS Mahruav lied about the contents of the hold, claiming that they were transporting blacksmithing materials - anvils, charcoal, coal, hammers, chisels. Passing the time was a simple affair on the SS Mahruav - Tubba spent the time when Galmajo, Gonzales and Blizzerd were on board the SS Mahruav in the living quarters with them, and when they were out and about in the Waffle Kingdom, he slept, an aching relief to the lethargy he was having. “Tubba! Tubba!” Mud’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Tubba was lounging on a comfortable armchair on the floor immediately below the deck of the ship, letting the sun filtering in through the portholes ease his aching bones. Leaping off the armchair, whilst grabbing Karubba’s club from where it lay on the rugged wooden floor, Tubba braced himself for Mud to leap the stairs from the deck. His voice was panicky, and Mud was not a person that panicked easily. The Bandit leapt from the deck, down the stairs by threes, landing heavily on the floor as Tubba approached the base of the stairs. Ignoring his less-than-graceful fall and regaining his feet, Mud pointed wildly up at the sunlight filtering in from the hatch, yelling out an amalgamation of words. “Shy Guys! Attack! Introverts! Hold! Mistake! Anvil!” “Calm down, Mud.” Tubba raised a hand to calm down his friend. Mud, ignoring his advice, grabbed his hair and dragged Tubba’s internal ear to the mouth hole on his mask, before bellowing: “WE’RE UNDER ATTACK BY THE INTROVERTS!” Wincing away from Mud due to the Bandit’s lack of an indoor voice, Tubba let his mind roam. He had heard the name “The Introverts” before, but only in passing. The Introverts were a group of mercenaries who operated out of Rogueport, primarily composed of Shy Guys. They traversed the planet, robbing ships to fulfill their needs, often being skillful enough to frisk ships in broad daylight at the port - as was happening to the SS Mahruav, Tubba realized. “Shouldn’t the Waffle authorities be of any help?” Tubba asked quickly, before realizing how stupid of a question it was. “Yes, because I’m going to invite authorities onto a ship where you’re wanted!” Mud snarled, before fishing around in his robes. Drawing out a silver dagger, he dropped his voice to a low mutter: “It’s time we fought back then, Tubba.” Bracing Karubba’s club, and pointing to the stairs that led to the deck, Tubba asked: “How many do they have?” The club felt heavy in his hands. Once again, they were fighting, desperately scrapping for their survival. Why did this always have to happen? Tubba glanced over to the Bandit, before letting loose a slight smile. If it had to be this way, he was glad he had Mud by his side. “Lots.” Mud said grimly. “I’ll alert the others. I trust you can handle any small Shy Guy or Snifit that decides to wander down.” Without waiting for a reply, Mud hurtled down the hallways, yelling for his crewmates to assemble and prepare for a fight. Having been distracted by Mud’s cries for the crew to assemble, Tubba had not been watching the stairs leading up to the deck. Consequently, when a heavy weight slammed into his back, Tubba was thrown forward, landing heavily onto the wood of the ship. Thrashing and writhing to regain his feet, as his attacker clearly landed heavily on his back, Tubba slashed in the general direction of his assailant, hoping to make contact. Satisfaction raced through him as he heard a grunt from his opponent as the head of the club contacted his attacker. Seizing his advantage, Tubba bucked, throwing his attacker off, before regaining his feet and catching a glimpse of his enemy for the first time since the battle began. It was a small green Snifit. Feeling the fire of battle pep him up, Tubba pointed Karubba’s club at the Snifit. “You’re going to regret that,” Tubba growled, angry that he had let himself be taken down by the Snifit originally. The Snifit, not bothering to reply, fired the trademark rocks that defined them. Tubba stuck out his free left arm, letting the stones contact them. Although a few scales were torn out by the velocity of the rocks, Tubba hardly felt them. In battle, there was no time to dwell on lost scales, or slight bleeding. Adrenaline drove him forward, as it always had. Swinging wildly, Tubba was met with empty air as the Snifit nimbly dodged his grandfather’s club, before firing more rocks at Tubba, which Tubba merely knocked down with his belly. His thick belly scales preventing any pain, Tubba locked eyes with the Snifit. The pools of hatred he was met with surprised him. Sure, they were angrily scrapping with each other, and he expected to see the light of fire in the Snifit’s eyes... but this was unmitigated hatred. As if this Snifit knew Tubba. ''But this Snifit did know Tubba! ''Tubba realized, his eyes opening wide. Freezing in his spot, Tubba opened his mouth to say something. Quick as a flash, the Snifit leapt at Tubba, knocking the small Clubba to the floor and driving the air out of him, no mean feat. Tubba fought for air to say something, anything, as he thrashed underneath the Snifit. Horror seized him as he saw more Snifits piling down from the deck above. Joining the green Snifit, they placed their hands on Tubba’s various extremities, preventing him from throwing the green one off him. Screaming internally, fighting for breath, as Karubba’s club was torn from him, Tubba knew he could be seconds away from dying. The green Snifit dug into his robes, before taking out a knife with a strong wooden handle. Tubba finally found enough air to shout: “No! Sh-!” The Snifit’s green hand closed Tubba’s mouth, preventing him from making a sound. Twirling the knife, the Snifit slashed it around, clearly testing it out. An emptiness was settling over Tubba. The sounds of battle seemed to be far, far away. At the hands of one of his own. This is how he would go. A large orange scaled three-fingered hand grabbed the Snifit by the scruff of it’s neck, and hurled it off Tubba. Taking advantage of his opportunity, Tubba bucked, throwing the various Snifits on him away from him. Regaining his feet, Tubba saw that his saviour was Paralus. Having surprised the green Snifit, the burly orange Clubba was engaging the Snifit in combat of his own. “No!” Tubba choked out, coughing as he did so. “No! Paralus, stop! It’s me, Shazam!”